280 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



AN IMPROVEMENT 



in many ways. There are no cross-cuts, so that 

 the circulation of the tree is very little inter- 

 fered with. There is less fear of the cambium 

 being cut into. The cambium is touched by the 

 point of the knife, but in such a way that the 

 wound (wound, it may be called, but it is only 

 a prick), is hermetically sealed, so that the air 

 does not get to it, and it appears to heal up 

 without any ill effect." 



Reverting to the subject of Java, Mr. Turner 

 went on : — " I have been very much taken with 

 Robusta coffee over in Java. Some estates on 

 which Robusta coffee is being grown as a catch 

 crop will soon pay dividends from that alone. 

 With regard to tea, I am not a tea planter, but 

 it appears to me as if it is going greatly to in- 

 crease in quantity and improve in quality. The 

 Dutch planters seem to be working hand in hand 

 with the English, and with very satisfactory 

 results." 



" What do you think of rubber generally ? " 



" Rubber, of course, is bound to come down 

 to 2s. or thereabouts, but in the Straits we need 

 fear nothing because we shall survive. It will 

 be the survival of the fittest, and our position 

 makes us the fittest. Both our soil and climate 

 are better than those of Ceylon." 



" How about prices?" 



" The price of rubber is to me a mystery. I 

 had never dreamed of its keeping up as it has 

 done. However, as far as the Middle East is 

 concerned, the rubber industry is a thoroughly 

 sound one." 



TEA PLANTATIONS !N NATAL. 



The operations of the firm of Sir J Liege 

 Hulett and Sons, Ltd., are not confined to the 

 production of sugar. Immense quantities of tea 

 pioneers of the tea industry in South Africa. 

 It may surprise many readers to learn that 

 next to Ceylon and India, Natal is by far the 

 most important of the tea-producing Colonies of 

 the British Empire, and the industry is one of 

 considerable value to the country. It will be 

 remembered that the destruction of the coffee 

 plantations by a fungoid disease was essentially 

 the cause of the existence of the now splendid 

 Ceylon tea industry, and it was precisely the 

 same misfortune which in 1877-78 necessitated 

 Natal planters seeking a new neld for the in- 

 vestment of their capital. When it became evi- 

 dent that coffee was doomed as a cultivation of 

 first-class importance, Mr (now Sir) J Liege 

 Hulett became convinced that, with suitable 

 plants, tea would prove the salvation of the 

 planters. The matter was brought before the 

 Lower Tugela Planters' Association, and on the 

 Government being asked to render assis- 

 tance, free freight on seed imported from 

 India was offered to the Colonists. The latter 

 formed a syndicate to defray expenses, 

 and seed from Calcutta was landed in 

 Natal in March, 1877, and immediately planted 

 out in nurseries. Unfortunately about the time 

 the seedlings were planted out a severe drought 

 visited the country, and out of 4,000 plants 

 successfully raised from the seed only 1,200 

 survived. The seriousness of this set-back was 

 increased by the fact that the surviving plants 



would require three or four years before they 

 would yield any seed for nursery purposes, and 

 it was not until 1880 that seed was gathered 

 from them, the quantity obtained being barely 

 sufficient to plant five acres. In the following 

 year, however, the planters returned to their 

 task with undiminished determination, and, in 

 spite of many subsequent discouragements, the 

 plantations gradually increased until at the 

 present time they extend to thousands of acres. 



The most productive tea gardens are at an 

 elevation of about 1,00 > feet, the land at this 

 altitude being generally of an undulating 

 character, well watered, and the climate suffi- 

 ciently humid to encourage leaf production 

 Th e area of the groat tea-growing districts in 

 Victoria County is 1,290 square miles in extent. 

 ...Sufficient land to supply all the tea consumed 

 in South Africa at the present time can be 

 found in the Lower Tugela Division (Victoria 

 County) alone. 



Natal tea has a distinctive character of its 

 own, and, while it is not so pungent and harsh 

 to the palate as the teas of India and Ceylon, it 

 is in reality a more wholesome tea to drink, for 

 the reason that it contains a much lower per- 

 centage (as much as seven and a half per cent, 

 less) of tannic acid, and in addition is richer in 

 caffein, the stimulating principle of tea and 

 coffee. The tea plantations of Messrs J L 

 Hulett and Sons, Ltd., form one of the leading 

 features of industrial Natal. They are situated 

 at Kearsney, to the north-west of Stanger, and 

 a light railway runs form Stanger Station on 

 the main line to the factory, a distance of eight 

 miles. The Company owns two very large fac- 

 to ries on the Kearsney Estate turning out con- 

 siderably over one million pounds of tea per 

 annum. The area under cultivation at the pre- 

 sent time is about 2,000 acres, with possibilities 

 of extending up to 5,000 acres if necessary.— 

 London Times, Dec. 14. 



TOMATO CANKER. 



The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries desire 

 to warn all growers of tomatoes that the disease 

 known as tomato'and cucumber canker (mycos- 

 pcerella citrullina) is included among the diseases 

 which, in pursuance of the Destructive Insects 

 and Pests Order of 1910, must be reported to 

 the Board by the occupier of any premises on 

 which they appear. A description of the disease 

 is given in the Board's leaflet No. 230, copies of 

 which can be obtained free of charge and post 

 free on application to the Secretary, Board of 

 Agriculture and Fisheries, 4, Whitehall-place, 

 London. Letters so addressed need not be 

 stamped. Growers who are in doubt as to 

 whether or not the disease is present on their 

 premises should submit specimens of affected 

 plants to the board for determination. Up to 

 the present the disease has been chiefly con- 

 fined to t jmatoes grown under glass. Occupiers 

 of premises on which the disease appeared last 

 year are strongly advised not to plant tomatoes 

 in the same soil, unless it has been adequately 

 sterilised, and to spray all their plants during 

 the early part of the season with Bordeaux mix- 

 ture or a solution of liver of suphur (one pound 

 to 32 gallons of water).— M. Post, March 1. 



